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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the My Safe Florida Home Program; 2
amending s. 215.5586, F.S.; revising legislative 3
intent; specifying eligibility requirements for 4
hurricane mitigation inspections under the My Safe 5
Florida Home Program; specifying requirements for a 6
hurricane mitigation inspection application; 7
authorizing an applicant to submit a subsequent 8
hurricane mitigation inspection application under 9
certain conditions; authorizing applicants who meet 10
specified requirements to receive a home inspection 11
under the program without being eligible for, or 12
applying for, a grant; specifying eligibility 13
requirements for hurricane mitigation grants; revising 14
application requirements for hurricane mitigation 15
grants; authorizing an applicant to submit a 16
subsequent hurricane mi tigation grant application 17
under certain conditions; requiring that a grant 18
application include certain information; deleting and 19
revising provisions relating to the selection of 20
hurricane mitigation inspectors and contractors; 21
deleting the requirement tha t matching fund grants be 22
made available to certain entities; revising 23
improvements that grants for eligible homes may be 24
used for; deleting the authorization to use grants on 25
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rebuilds; requiring the Department of Financial 26
Services to develop a process th at ensures the most 27
efficient means to collect and verify inspection 28
applications; requiring the department to prioritize 29
the review and approval of inspection and grant 30
applications in a specified order; requiring the 31
department to start accepting inspect ion and grant 32
applications as specified in the act; requiring 33
homeowners to finalize construction and make certain 34
requests within a specified time; providing that an 35
application is deemed abandoned under certain 36
circumstances; authorizing the department t o request 37
certain information; providing that an application is 38
considered withdrawn under certain circumstances; 39
revising provisions relating to the development of 40
brochures; requiring the Citizens Property Insurance 41
Corporation to distribute such brochur es to specified 42
persons; providing appropriations; providing an 43
effective date. 44
45
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 46
47
Section 1. Section 215.5586, Florida Statutes, as amended 48
by section 5 of chapter 2023 -349, Laws of Florida, is amended to 49
read: 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
215.5586 My Safe Florida Home Program. —There is 51
established within the Department of Financial Services the My 52
Safe Florida Home Program. The department shall provide fiscal 53
accountability, contract management, and strategic leadersh ip 54
for the program, consistent with this section. This section does 55
not create an entitlement for property owners or obligate the 56
state in any way to fund the inspection or retrofitting of 57
residential property in this state. Implementation of this 58
program is subject to annual legislative appropriations. It is 59
the intent of the Legislature that, subject to the availability 60
of funds, the My Safe Florida Home Program provide licensed 61
inspectors to perform hurricane mitigation inspections of 62
eligible homes for owners of site-built, single-family, 63
residential properties and grants to fund hurricane mitigation 64
projects on those homes eligible applicants. The department 65
shall implement the program in such a manner that the total 66
amount of funding requested by accep ted applications, whether 67
for inspections, grants, or other services or assistance, does 68
not exceed the total amount of available funds. If, after 69
applications are processed and approved, funds remain available, 70
the department may accept applications up to the available 71
amount. The program shall develop and implement a comprehensive 72
and coordinated approach for hurricane damage mitigation 73
pursuant to that may include the requirements provided in this 74
section. following: 75
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(1) HURRICANE MITIGATION INSPECTION S.— 76
(a) To be eligible for a hurricane mitigation inspection 77
under the program: 78
1. A home must be a single -family, detached residential 79
property or a townhouse as defined in s. 481.203; 80
2. A home must be site -built and owner-occupied; and 81
3. The homeowner must have been granted a homestead 82
exemption on the home under chapter 196. 83
(b)1. An application for a hurricane mitigation inspection 84
must contain a signed or electronically verified statement made 85
under penalty of perjury that the applicant has submitted only 86
one inspection application on the home or that the application 87
is allowed under subparagraph 2., and the application must have 88
documents attached which demonstrate that the applicant meets 89
the requirements of paragraph (a). 90
2. An applicant may submit a subsequent hurricane 91
mitigation inspection application for the same home only if: 92
a. The original hurricane mitigation inspection 93
application has been denied or withdrawn because of errors or 94
omissions in the application; 95
b. The original hurricane mitigation inspection 96
application was denied or withdrawn because the home did not 97
meet the eligibility criteria for an inspection at the time of 98
the previous application, and the homeowner reasonably believes 99
the home now is eligible for an ins pection; or 100
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c. The program's eligibility requirements for an 101
inspection have changed since the original application date, and 102
the applicant reasonably believes the home is eligible under the 103
new requirements. 104
(c) An applicant meeting the requirements o f paragraph (a) 105
may receive an inspection of a home under the program without 106
being eligible for a grant under subsection (2) or applying for 107
such grant. 108
(d) Licensed inspectors are to provide home inspections of 109
eligible homes site-built, single-family, residential properties 110
for which a homestead exemption has been granted, to determine 111
what mitigation measures are needed, what insurance premium 112
discounts may be available, and what improvements to existing 113
residential properties are needed to reduce the property's 114
vulnerability to hurricane damage. An inspector may inspect a 115
townhouse as defined in s. 481.203 to determine if opening 116
protection mitigation as listed in subparagraph (2)(e)1. 117
paragraph (2)(e) would provide improvements to mitigate 118
hurricane damage. 119
(e)(b) The department of Financial Services shall contract 120
with wind certification entities to provide hurricane mitigation 121
inspections. The inspections provided to homeowners, at a 122
minimum, must include: 123
1. A home inspection and report that su mmarizes the 124
results and identifies recommended improvements a homeowner may 125
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take to mitigate hurricane damage. 126
2. A range of cost estimates regarding the recommended 127
mitigation improvements. 128
3. Information regarding estimated premium discounts, 129
correlated to the current mitigation features and the 130
recommended mitigation improvements identified by the 131
inspection. 132
(f)(c) To qualify for selection by the department as a 133
wind certification entity to provide hurricane mitigation 134
inspections, the entity mus t, at a minimum, meet the following 135
requirements: 136
1. Use hurricane mitigation inspectors who are licensed or 137
certified as: 138
a. A building inspector under s. 468.607; 139
b. A general, building, or residential contractor under s. 140
489.111; 141
c. A professional engineer under s. 471.015; 142
d. A professional architect under s. 481.213; or 143
e. A home inspector under s. 468.8314 and who have 144
completed at least 3 hours of hurricane mitigation training 145
approved by the Construction Industry Licensing Board, which 146
training must include hurricane mitigation techniques, 147
compliance with the uniform mitigation verification form, and 148
completion of a proficiency exam. 149
2. Use hurricane mitigation inspectors who also have 150
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undergone drug testing and a background screening. The 151
department may conduct criminal record checks of inspectors used 152
by wind certification entities. Inspectors must submit a set of 153
fingerprints to the department for state and national criminal 154
history checks and must pay the fingerprint processing fee s et 155
forth in s. 624.501. The fingerprints must be sent by the 156
department to the Department of Law Enforcement and forwarded to 157
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for processing. The results 158
must be returned to the department for screening. The 159
fingerprints must be taken by a law enforcement agency, 160
designated examination center, or other department -approved 161
entity. 162
3. Provide a quality assurance program including a 163
reinspection component. 164
(d) An application for an inspection must contain a signed 165
or electronically verified statement made under penalty of 166
perjury that the applicant has submitted only a single 167
application for that home. 168
(e) The owner of a site -built, single-family, residential 169
property or townhouse as defined in s. 481.203, for which a 170
homestead exemption has been granted, may apply for and receive 171
an inspection without also applying for a grant pursuant to 172
subsection (2) and without meeting the requirements of paragraph 173
(2)(a). 174
(2) HURRICANE MITIGATION GRANTS.—Financial grants shall be 175
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used by homeowners to make improvements recommended by an 176
inspection which increase resistance encourage single-family, 177
site-built, owner-occupied, residential property owners to 178
retrofit their properties to make them less vulnerable to 179
hurricane damage. 180
(a) For A homeowner is to be eligible for a hurricane 181
mitigation grant if all of, the following criteria are must be 182
met: 183
1. The home must be eligible for an inspection under 184
subsection (1) The homeowner must have been granted a homestead 185
exemption on the home under chapter 196 . 186
2. The home must be a dwelling with an insured value of 187
$700,000 or less. Homeowners who are low -income persons, as 188
defined in s. 420.0004(11), are exempt from this requirement. 189
3. The home must undergo an acceptable hurrica ne 190
mitigation inspection as provided in subsection (1). 191
4. The building permit application for initial 192
construction of the home must have been made before January 1, 193
2008. 194
5. The homeowner must agree to make his or her home 195
available for inspection onc e a mitigation project is completed. 196
6. The homeowner must agree to provide to the department 197
information received from the homeowner's insurer identifying 198
the discounts realized by the homeowner because of the 199
mitigation improvements funded through the program. 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(b)1. An application for a grant must contain a signed or 201
electronically verified statement made under penalty of perjury 202
that the applicant has submitted only one grant a single 203
application or that the application is allowed under 204
subparagraph 2., and the application must have attached 205
documents attached demonstrating that the applicant meets the 206
requirements of this paragraph (a). 207
2. An applicant may submit a subsequent grant application 208
if: 209
a. The original grant application was denied or w ithdrawn 210
because the application contained errors or omissions; 211
b. The original grant application was denied or withdrawn 212
because the home did not meet the eligibility criteria for a 213
grant at the time of the previous application, and the homeowner 214
reasonably believes that the home now is eligible for a grant; 215
or 216
c. The program's eligibility requirements for a grant have 217
changed since the original application date, and the applicant 218
reasonably believes that he or she is an eligible homeowner 219
under the new requirements. 220
3. A grant application must include a statement from the 221
homeowner which contains the name and state license number of 222
the contractor that the homeowner acknowledges as the intended 223
contractor for the mitigation work. The program must 224
electronically verif y that the contractor's state license number 225
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is accurate and up to date before grant approval. 226
(c)(b) All grants must be matched on the basis of $1 227
provided by the applicant for $2 provided by the state up to a 228
maximum state contribution of $10,000 towar d the actual cost of 229
the mitigation project , except as provided in paragraph (h) . 230
(d)(c) The program shall create a process in which 231
contractors agree to participate and homeowners select from a 232
list of participating contractors. All hurricane mitigation 233
performed under the program must be based upon the securing of 234
all required local permits and inspections and must be performed 235
by properly licensed contractors. Hurricane mitigation 236
inspectors qualifying for the program may also participate as 237
mitigation contractors as long as the inspectors meet the 238
department's qualifications and certification requirements for 239
mitigation contractors. 240
(d) Matching fund grants shall also be made available to 241
local governments and nonprofit entities for projects that wil l 242
reduce hurricane damage to single -family, site-built, owner-243
occupied, residential property. The department shall liberally 244
construe those requirements in favor of availing the state of 245
the opportunity to leverage funding for the My Safe Florida Home 246
Program with other sources of funding. 247
(e) When recommended by a hurricane mitigation inspection, 248
grants for eligible homes may be used for the following 249
improvements: 250
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
1. Opening protection , including exterior doors, garage 251
doors, windows, and skylights . 252
2. Exterior doors, including garage doors. 253
3. Reinforcing roof-to-wall connections. 254
3.4. Improving the strength of roof -deck attachments. 255
4.5. Secondary water resistance barrier for roof. 256
(f) When recommended by a hurricane mitigation inspection, 257
grants for townhouses, as defined in s. 481.203, may only be 258
used for opening protection. 259
(g) The department may require that improvements be made 260
to all openings, including exterior doors , and garage doors, 261
windows, and skylights, as a condition of reim bursing a 262
homeowner approved for a grant. The department may adopt, by 263
rule, the maximum grant allowances for any improvement allowable 264
under paragraph (e) or paragraph (f) this paragraph. 265
(g) Grants may be used on a previously inspected existing 266
structure or on a rebuild. A rebuild is defined as a site -built, 267
single-family dwelling under construction to replace a home that 268
was destroyed or significantly damaged by a hurricane and deemed 269
unlivable by a regulatory authority. The homeowner must be a 270
low-income homeowner as defined in paragraph (h), must have had 271
a homestead exemption for that home before the hurricane, and 272
must be intending to rebuild the home as that homeowner's 273
homestead. 274
(h) Low-income homeowners, as defined in s. 420.0004(11), 275
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who otherwise meet the applicable requirements of this 276
subsection paragraphs (a), (c), (e), and (g) are eligible for a 277
grant of up to $10,000 and are not required to provide a 278
matching amount to receive the grant. The program may accept a 279
certification directly from a low-income homeowner that the 280
homeowner meets the requirements of s. 420.0004(11) if the 281
homeowner provides such certification in a signed or 282
electronically verified statement made under penalty of perjury. 283
(i)1. The department shall develop a pro cess that ensures 284
the most efficient means to collect and verify inspection 285
applications and grant applications to determine eligibility . 286
The department and may direct hurricane mitigation inspectors to 287
collect and verify grant application information or u se the 288
Internet or other electronic means to collect information and 289
determine eligibility. 290
2. The department shall prioritize the review and approval 291
of such inspection applications and grant applications in the 292
following order: 293
a. First, applications from low-income persons, as defined 294
in s. 420.0004, who are at least 60 years old; 295
b. Second, applications from all other low -income persons, 296
as defined in s. 420.0004; 297
c. Third, applications from moderate -income persons, as 298
defined in s. 420.0004, wh o are at least 60 years old; 299
d. Fourth, applications from all other moderate -income 300
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persons, as defined in s. 420.0004; and 301
e. Last, all other applications. 302
3. The department shall start accepting inspection 303
applications and grant applications no ear lier than the 304
effective date of a legislative appropriation funding 305
inspections and grants, as follows: 306
a. Initially, from applicants prioritized under sub -307
subparagraph 2.a.; 308
b. From applicants prioritized under sub -subparagraph 309
2.b., beginning 15 days after the program initially starts 310
accepting applications; 311
c. From applicants prioritized under sub -subparagraph 312
2.c., beginning 30 days after the program initially starts 313
accepting applications; 314
d. From applicants described in sub -subparagraph 2.d., 315
beginning 45 days after the program initially starts accepting 316
applications; and 317
e. From all other applicants, beginning 60 days after the 318
program initially starts accepting applications. 319
4. The program may accept a certification directly from a 320
low-income homeowner or moderate -income homeowner who meets the 321
requirements of s. 420.0004(11) or (12), respectively, if the 322
homeowner provides such certification in a signed or 323
electronically verified statement made under penalty of perjury. 324
(j) A homeowner who receives a grant shall finalize 325
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construction and request a final inspection, or request an 326
extension for an additional 6 months, within 1 year after grant 327
approval. If a homeowner fails to comply with this paragraph, 328
his or her application is deemed ab andoned and the grant money 329
reverts to the department. 330
(3) REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION. —The department may request 331
that an applicant provide additional information. An application 332
is deemed withdrawn by the applicant if the department does not 333
receive a response to its request for additional information 334
within 60 days after the notification of any apparent error or 335
omission. 336
(4) EDUCATION, CONSUMER AWARENESS, AND OUTREACH. — 337
(a) The department may undertake a statewide multimedia 338
public outreach and ad vertising campaign to inform consumers of 339
the availability and benefits of hurricane inspections and of 340
the safety and financial benefits of residential hurricane 341
damage mitigation. The department may seek out and use local, 342
state, federal, and private fun ds to support the campaign. 343
(b) The program may develop brochures for distribution to 344
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and other licensed 345
entities or nonprofits that work with the department to educate 346
the public on the benefits of the program , general contractors, 347
roofing contractors, and real estate brokers and sales 348
associates who are licensed under part I of chapter 475 which 349
provide information on the benefits to homeowners of residential 350
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hurricane damage mitigation . Citizens Property Insuranc e 351
Corporation must is encouraged to distribute the brochure to 352
policyholders of the corporation each year the program is 353
funded. Contractors are encouraged to distribute the brochures 354
to homeowners at the first meeting with a homeowner who is 355
considering contracting for home or roof repair or contracting 356
for the construction of a new home. Real estate brokers and 357
sales associates are encouraged to distribute the brochure to 358
clients before the purchase of a home. The brochures may be made 359
available electronically. 360
(5)(4) FUNDING.—The department may seek out and leverage 361
local, state, federal, or private funds to enhance the financial 362
resources of the program. 363
(6)(5) RULES.—The department of Financial Services shall 364
adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) a nd 120.54 to govern the 365
program; implement the provisions of this section; including 366
rules governing hurricane mitigation inspections and grants, 367
mitigation contractors, and training of inspectors and 368
contractors; and carry out the duties of the department under 369
this section. 370
(7)(6) HURRICANE MITIGATION INSPECTOR LIST. —The department 371
shall develop and maintain as a public record a current list of 372
hurricane mitigation inspectors authorized to conduct hurricane 373
mitigation inspections pursuant to this sectio n. 374
(8)(7) CONTRACT MANAGEMENT. — 375
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(a) The department may contract with third parties for 376
grants management, inspection services, contractor services for 377
low-income homeowners, information technology, educational 378
outreach, and auditing services. Such cont racts are considered 379
direct costs of the program and are not subject to 380
administrative cost limits. The department shall contract with 381
providers that have a demonstrated record of successful business 382
operations in areas directly related to the services to be 383
provided and shall ensure the highest accountability for use of 384
state funds, consistent with this section. 385
(b) The department shall implement a quality assurance and 386
reinspection program that determines whether initial inspections 387
and home improvement s are completed in a manner consistent with 388
the intent of the program. The department may use valid random 389
sampling in order to perform the quality assurance portion of 390
the program. 391
(9)(8) INTENT.—It is the intent of the Legislature that 392
grants made to residential property owners under this section 393
shall be considered disaster -relief assistance within the 394
meaning of s. 139 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 395
amended. 396
(10)(9) REPORTS.—The department shall make an annual 397
report on the activities of t he program that shall account for 398
the use of state funds and indicate the number of inspections 399
requested, the number of inspections performed, the number of 400
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grant applications received, the number and value of grants 401
approved, and the estimated average an nual amount of insurance 402
premium discounts and total estimated annual amount of insurance 403
premium discounts homeowners received from insurers as a result 404
of mitigation funded through the program. The report must be 405
delivered to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the 406
House of Representatives by February 1 of each year. 407
Section 2. (1) For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the sum of 408
$100 million in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the 409
General Revenue Fund to the Department of Financial Servic es to 410
provide mitigation grants pursuant to s. 215.5586(2), Florida 411
Statutes, under the My Safe Florida Home Program. The department 412
may not continue to accept applications or to create a waiting 413
list in anticipation of additional funding unless the 414
Legislature provides express authority to implement such 415
actions. 416
(2) For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the sum of $7 million 417
in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the General Revenue 418
Fund to the Department of Financial Services for administrative 419
costs related to implementation of mitigation grants pursuant to 420
s. 215.5586(2), Florida Statutes, under the My Safe Florida Home 421
Program. 422
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 423